The Soil Association’s 2018 Organic Market Report has revealed that spend on organic food and drink in foodservice over the past year amounted to £84.4m.

Overall, the UK organic market is now worth £2.2bn – the highest it has ever been – growing 6% in 2017.

Organic produce now accounts for 1.5% of the total UK food and drink market.

On the high street, the Organic Served Here scheme has doubled its membership since launching a year ago, as an increasing number of diners look for organic when eating out.

“Foodservice is a growing market in itself, and although right now organic still has a small share in this industry, it’s one of the fastest growing areas of the organic market and there is huge potential to accelerate that upward trend as people put more and more value on knowing where their food has come from,” says Clare McDermott, business development director at Soil Association Certification.

“Our consumer research shows that a growing number of people are on the lookout for organic when they dine out, but 67% of people told us that they find it difficult to know whether organic is on the menu, which is why schemes like Organic Served Here are so important for driving more growth of organic in foodservice.”